


Outlier

by sopulius



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: Action, Alternate Universe, F/M, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mass Effect Big Bang 2020, Mystery, Slow Burn, implied depression
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-17
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:40:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 18,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25314724
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sopulius/pseuds/sopulius
Summary: “Whether Williams is dead, I’d say yes,” Feron opined and continued with an uncertain expression on his scaly features. “Or at least close to it. It’s hard to say. The body has been recovered, in some kind of stasis pod – if not dead, certainly not alive,” Feron said and allowed his voice to express a bit of sympathy. He blinked and stared at Liara with a pitying look. “I know you came a long way and even went through the trouble of hiring,” Feron glanced at Shepard and waved his hand towards the human as if struggling to find a word to describe the man. “… a bodyguard of sorts. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news."Ashley Williams saved the galaxy from Sovereign and post-poned the Reaper invasion, only to disappear soon afterwards. Liara sets out to find Williams, only to be hampered by bureaucracy. To move on with her mission she hires a bodyguard by the name of J. Shepard to aid her finding an informant called Feron on Omega.Spans the Events of the Mass Effect comic Redemption.
Relationships: Shepard & Liara T'Soni
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Adrift

**Author's Note:**

> Big thanks to altnaharra for creating lovely artwork for this story! Check out their wonderful art from other MEBBs too!
> 
> https://altnaharra.tumblr.com/post/623921747210780672/liara-tsoni-baby-wants-power-for-sopulius

"Well then," Liara sighed, setting her luggage down on the floor. "I suppose this is goodbye, Commander."

The air between them was tense, but not from the sorrow of having to say goodbye to a friend. There was neither animosity nor strain from dislike between them. No fondness, but no aversion either. Just uneasy, unexplainable tension.

Maybe that tension reflected the general feeling on the Citadel, especially in the C-Sec quarters where they currently were. Perhaps the shock of being attacked had transformed into a tension that bled into every encounter, making casual conversation seem malapropos as people walked by briskly in and out of offices, carrying supplies, barking orders and ushering nosy reporters away.

"Yeah," Commander Williams breathed and looked at the asari fleetingly before her eyes went back to observing the bustling C-Sec personnel. Liara always got the feeling that the woman wasn't quite sure how to act or be around the asari. Liara's lack of experience with other species – especially humans – and her stunted social skills, which she tried to make up for by approaching everything from a very objective, scientific standpoint, may have worked better at making the human Commander feel uneasy rather than relaxed. Maybe that was one of the biggest reasons why Williams had had trouble finding her trustworthy.

Liara rubbed her hands together and looked down at them, futilely wondering why she couldn't find anything to say. Why smart, companionable words always eluded her.

 _You know why_ , a silky voice, like her mother's, said in Liara's mind. _You made your choices in life_.

Even so, Williams took a step forward and offered her hand, much to Liara's surprise. The asari hesitated for a moment but then reached for it, taking part in the human gesture of shaking hands. She lifted her gaze to meet the woman's eyes and saw serious professionalism in them. Williams' grip was firm.

"Couldn't have done it without your help, Doctor," Williams stated evenly as she released Liara's hand and straightened her back. The asari smiled in surprise. Williams was genuine in her words, in her compliment. While it was certainly true that Liara's involvement and knowledge of protheans had been a key element in chasing Saren down, it did feel good to hear it stated out loud. Even after melding with Williams on numerous occasions to decipher the prothean visions, the Commander had always kept the asari at a distance, and despite getting so-called "sneak peeks" at the Commander’s psyche, the female soldier upheld a cautious, professional distance from the asari.

Liara met the woman's eyes again and was a little startled to see her smiling back. It was a smile of acknowledgement. A mere upturn in the corners of Williams' mouth. In that moment, she wished desperately that they could have gotten along a little bit better before this. Liara barely had any friends and saying goodbye to Williams seemed to underline that fact. In better circumstances they could have been friends. Liara felt sure of it. Perhaps there was hope yet that they might still be friends, one day. Even if it currently seemed unlikely that they would ever meet again.

"Well," Williams said in a conclusive tone. She reached over, gripped Liara's shoulder and gave it a small squeeze. The asari had witnessed this gesture between humans often, but it was such an odd gesture for her to interpret. It seemed to carry many meanings and could be taken as pity, support or camaraderie. Wondering what Williams meant with this one, she looked into the woman's brown eyes.

"Take care of yourself," the Commander said with a firmly warm tone and patted her shoulder. Pity and support, then. Liara felt herself deflate under Williams' hand. With one more look at Liara, Williams said simply: "Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Ashley," Liara echoed numbly, but the woman didn't seem to notice the change in her tone. The human Commander smiled once more. She patted the asari's shoulder one last time, then turned around and walked away towards the elevator that would take her to the docks. The asari watched the woman’s retreating back with conflicting emotions.

She was truly glad that they had managed to stop Saren and Sovereign's plans and that the galaxy had been saved. For now, at least. She was truly glad that the mission was over. It had been a heavy physical and mental burden, racing against time, fighting geth, seeing depravity and death all over the galaxy. Seeing her mother, the once proud asari matriarch, turned into someone beyond recognition and witnessing her violent death in the hands of Commander Williams.

It had been necessary. Liara had been there, had seen it all happen and how nothing else could have been done. It was true. That was the reality of it.

Still, it was another aspect that had added tension to the uncomfortable relationship between Williams and her. She felt relieved that the relationship was now concluded. Liara didn't need the pity of some Alliance soldier. But despite the dysfunctional connection, as long as she had been a part of the Normandy's crew, everything else had been put on hold. Her research and her late mother's estate and affairs.

Liara wished she could just run after Williams and beg the woman to take her back to the Normandy and explore space aimlessly. To entertain the crew with stories from her archaeological digs and get to know the humans and Williams a little bit better. She had strength for that. 

She didn't have the strength to face the full brunt of her grief and to look at all of her research at the same time, knowing it was otiose. Yes, the discoveries she had made with Williams did confirm her research to be correct, but in the worst possible way. To think that she had yearned to be right, to be acknowledged as a stellar researcher in academia. But now that she was indeed right, she rejected it. How ironic! How cosmically ironic!

Liara's insides twisted with nausea. Perhaps she was bitter or remorseful. Maybe she was anxious? It was hard for her to decipher all her feelings.

She looked down at her luggage. The corner where she stood was out of the way of the people marching around the C-Sec Headquarters. No one looked at her, no one paused at her secluded, lonely spot.

No one noticed her wipe the freshly fallen tears from her eyes as she bent to pick up her bags from the floor. Quietly she waded through the people and walked to the elevator that would take her to the Presidium. From there she would hail a cab to take her to the docking bay, where a ship headed for Thessia awaited.

* * *

Thessia was home. Liara's earliest memories were from there, from Armali's lush parks and bookstores, from the University of Serrice, where she had received her doctorate.

The port where Liara's transport landed had advertisements of her mother. Vids of Matriarch Benezia's various wise speeches were playing on different screens. Some had been updated to have sorrowful music or banners of "in remembrance". Liara eyed the vids numbly, her thoughts racing but feeling nothing in particular. She supposed that these vids would disappear quite quickly from public spaces. A well-known, almost revered matriarch had gone rogue for no apparent reason and had joined a bloodthirsty Spectre in bringing fanatic annihilation to the galaxy. Even if the full truth of the events wouldn’t be exposed to the asari populace, the rumours were bound to be damning enough to warrant the removal of the vids and memorials.

No one had come to greet Liara, and she hadn't expected anyone to. Matriarch Benezia had lived in the centre of attention, admired for her beauty and wisdom, as well as her ideals. Matriarch Benezia had embraced the future and paved the way for it through teaching philosophy and the core truths of siari faith. Liara, on the other hand, had grasped at the past, fascinated by the mysterious protheans already from an early age. She had made the past into a profession and dug up ruins and artifacts on remote planets, comforted by the solitary nature of her work.

Benezia had spoken with a sonorous voice, finding the most beautiful words for any situation, while Liara stuttered in a soft, timid tone and shied away from attracting too much attention to herself.

_We are so different._

_We were so different._ Liara corrected herself as she moved through the port, dragging her things behind her. She tended to travel light, taking with her only the essentials. The ruins didn't care if she was wearing frumpy old clothes or a dress with cuts that happened to be all the rage at the given time. Matriarch Benezia had always travelled with an entourage of asari commandos and disciples. She had always dressed according to the latest trends and given her outfits a touch of her own styling that sent fashion publications into a frenzy every time.

Liara stood outside the port and stared at a banner that advertised new trends for the coming season. Even fashion reminded Liara of her mother.

She hailed a cab and rode it in deep silence to her childhood home. It wasn't simply a house, but rather a mansion, and now the great structure of the building felt looming instead of welcoming. Walking up to it, Liara felt exactly as she had when she had walked the halls of her school in childhood, listening to the derisive whispers about her birth.

 _Pureblood,_ the whispers had echoed throughout Liara's school years, following her into university and haunting her now when she opened the doors to the mansion. The sun was setting, but even the rays of golden light could not lift the severe gloom from the building.

The doors closed with a muted hiss and Liara stood by, taking in the decor. She observed the changes that had occurred since her childhood. Liara remembered reading books by the large foyer windows that opened to a view of the sea, and recalled hiding behind the curtains and the furniture, imagining herself as an explorer of lost worlds. At the top of the stairs leading to the second floor she had imagined a mountain range.

The foyer she stood in had been redecorated. Numerous religious items had been placed here and there, and large, white statues she couldn’t recall from her childhood had appeared. The sun's light diminished as evening turned into night and Liara turned on the lights. She walked further into the foyer, leaving her luggage by the doors.

She examined one of the statues closer. It was made out of white smooth stone, just an abstract crescent shape with a pointy end. Liara touched the statue gingerly and felt no familiarity with the object. It seemed like a cold, dispassionately made thing.

Yet Benezia had liked it enough to keep it in her home as decoration. Statues like the one Liara had touched had been placed around the foyer, coming in a variety of shapes and sizes. There was another cubic statue on the table and another circular one on the windowsill. Clearly, Liara's mother had liked these items, as they had been purposefully placed in a way that drew the eye. Even so, Liara felt distant from them.

And the same could be said about the house. It had been a familiar place once, a home. Now it seemed foreign and unknown. Everything in this house reminded Liara of her mother and since her mother was gone, everything — the walls, the ceiling, the floors, and every object — silently screamed the wrongness of the situation and Benezia’s absence. This house felt nothing like the home it once had been.

Liara barely registered the tears falling from her eyes as she proceeded further into the building, leaving the entrance hall. She walked softly, like an intruder, and sniffled and sobbed quietly as her mind told her to leave. Leave this house that had become the tomb of a woman whose presence was larger than the building itself.

But there was nowhere else to go now.

* * *

The next morning, Liara decided she would sell the house. She had expected to feel something at the decision, guilt perhaps, but she felt nothing.

Lately, she had felt mostly numb. Ever since she had parted ways with Williams.

She felt adrift. Perhaps she had been that way her entire life. It began to seem so if she thought about it long enough. Hadn't she lived her whole life with this feeling? It was just more pronounced now. She had convinced herself that she was in charge of her own life and that she knew every aspect of it, when in reality she had no idea who she was and what she wanted.

She was a child of two asari — a pureblood, shunned since childhood — and an upstart academic with wild theories, who had suddenly abandoned her pursuits to join the first human Spectre on an adventure.

She had joined in part because she wanted to search for her mother, worried to hear about Benezia’s alliance with Saren, but also out of self-preservation. The ruthless turian spectre had sent assassins after her, but that fact didn't alleviate the doubts she had faced aboard the Normandy. Everyone had thought she was somehow tied to a conspiracy and the treatment she had received was in accordance with that belief.

On the other hand, she couldn't say that she had tried her hardest to become more likable to the human crew. She hadn’t gone out of her way to get to know the Commander or the rest of the crew, apart from Doctor Chakwas who tended to her often enough that they had managed to converse a little. Other than that, Liara had only managed to get to know Tali and Garrus a little. Williams had initially had some issues with the other alien crewmates as well, but Garrus and Tali had managed to win her over — unlike Wrex, who had met his end dramatically on Virmire. Wrex had treated Liara with casual friendliness, but she had been so uncertain about how to respond that their ties had remained lukewarm at best.

The welcome she received on Thessia followed in the same unenthusiastic vein as Liara got in touch with her mother's associates and wrote to the university. No one had missed her particularly, but the correspondence contained phrases like "Good to see you!" in vidcalls and "Delighted to hear from you!" in written messages. The next sentence was often a thinly veiled inquiry about who exactly she was. Liara admitted to herself that she was partially to blame for her disconnection from the people around her. She had always tended to forget everything else when focused on her research. Personal relationships, sleep and nutrition mattered little to her when she was engrossed in discovering something new about the protheans. 

She had devoted so much of her existence to archeology and to the protheans that there was little else in her life now, apart from that.

She wished more than anything that she had explored personal relationships or acquired hobbies in the past, as her only current functions were fulfilling her duties as the daughter of a deceased matriarch and upholding her uncomfortable correspondence with the university, whilst trying to answer questions about her research as vaguely as possible.

She felt lost like a frail boat in the open sea, drifting with the currents without means to steer her way or to anchor herself to figure out what she wanted or where to go. One thing, though, was certain; there was no one around to attach her to the house and nobody on the planet who could have made staying a pleasant experience.

With that thought in mind, Liara signed off on the deed of sale regarding the house and all its assets. The sentiment that followed reminded her of relief.

* * *

The news broke just a few weeks later. The Normandy had been destroyed by an unknown assailant. Most of the crew had survived but a dozen or so lives had been lost in the attack. 

Commander Williams had disappeared as a result of the incident.

Supposedly.

This was the extent of what Liara was able to glean from the news. For the first time in weeks she felt something other than numb. She felt dread and guilt, but also determination. The mixture of emotions was similar to how she felt whenever she came across new data entries from different archaeological dig sites around the galaxy and saw the signs of a mystery waiting to be unveiled.

Liara contacted Doctor Chakwas to learn more details of the attack. Luckily, the woman replied quickly and gave her even more information than Liara suspected was proper. Then again, maybe the good doctor knew Liara well enough to feel comfortable disclosing details she knew Liara would end up asking for anyway. Chakwas confirmed that Williams had not been on any of the escape pods and that it was very likely Williams was not just missing, but dead. The Alliance was not investigating, deducing that the likeliness of successfully locating Williams was so slim that it did not warrant further investigation. Williams had been declared missing in action.

After that, Garrus sent her a few messages. C-Sec and the Council were working hard to hide the truth behind the attack on the Citadel. The media spoke of the event as only a geth attack, with no mention of Sovereign or the reapers. Saren was named as the main culprit and the news focused on covering stories about the new safety policies in place on the Citadel and the rebuilding efforts on the Tayseri Ward. Garrus suspected that the new Council was adamant about covering up certain details of the attack and that something sinister was going on.

While Liara didn’t agree with Garrus’ beliefs about the Council’s involvement in everything, she had to admit that it was peculiar how the Normandy had been attacked, resulting in Williams’ disappearance, and how soon the cover up stories had started afterwards. 

It almost felt convenient.

Liara spent the next few days pacing in her mother’s house, plagued by a premonition. But what could she do? 

She packed away the furniture and the miscellaneous items in the house apathetically, lacking attachment to the objects. With a sudden strike of clarity, she realized she had nothing to lose. None of it truly mattered to her.

Her mother’s estate needed to be sorted, but it could wait. She had already decided to sell the house and most of the movables. The rest could wait. It could wait, and it wouldn’t even be strange. She didn’t have to do things the fast way. Especially this.

Her already tattered reputation as an academic was even more tarnished now by her association with and repetition of the “fanatic tales” and “wild rumours” about the reapers, as the news had dubbed the information. So, what would another crazy endeavour do to her standing at this point? 

_Instead of being called a pureblood bitch, I will be called a “crazy pureblood bitch”. I think I can take that_ , Liara thought sardonically as she perused the extranet late in the night, combing through reports and news. 

She was determined, but that didn’t prevent her from plunging into doubt and wondering if she was the right person to throw themselves into a likely dangerous and futile search for the truth. She reassured herself by justifying that everyone else had something better to do. Tali had returned to the Migrant Fleet and was likely busy taking on the responsibilities expected from an adult quarian. Garrus was diligently working in C-Sec again, even if he sounded a little frustrated with his job, judging by their correspondence. Doctor Chakwas had messaged Liara about her new post — telling her that she had been sent to work in the Sol System, on Mars — in case Liara ever wound up in the neighbourhood and wanted to meet up with a “literally” old friend. Chakwas’s words, not Liara’s. 

Each of the aforementioned had something to return to, some grand mission awaiting them, something to remind them where they belonged and who they were. Except her.

Thus, Liara set out to investigate where exactly the Normandy had been destroyed and what information was out there about Williams’ disappearance.

Firstly, no trace of Williams, her body or any other remains, had been located. As Chakwas’ first message had stated, Williams had not made it into any of the escape pods, and the wreckage of the Normandy had crashed on the surface of a planet called Alchera. The remaining crew had been rescued from the orbit of Alchera and were in the process of being reassigned to other posts and ships. The Council, the Spectres and the Alliance were reluctant to spend resources to retrieve or investigate Normandy’s wreckage, and the same went for Williams.

It seemed that Williams’ reputation had taken a hit because of the decision to allow the Destiny Ascension to be destroyed along with the previous Council. 

Although, given Alchera’s location, it was also likely the Council didn’t want to venture to the Terminus Systems, where Citadel Conventions were openly ignored and interference from any official parties could lead to a conflict with the population in the Systems. Yet, people in the Terminus Systems would brave a journey to Alchera in the promise of valuable loot. Certain groups and bands of mercenaries from Omega were bound to visit the planet to try and locate the wreckage for loot and even for bragging rights. Maybe someone from Omega would know more about Williams’ fate.

Liara stumbled on forums that residents of Omega frequented, and a few threads mentioned the Normandy and planned expeditions to gather valuables from its wreckage.

An individual, who claimed to know more about Williams’ whereabouts, emerged, and many wanted that information for themselves. A bidding started.

Benezia had made arrangements to secure her daughter’s livelihood by starting a trust fund that would be transferred to Liara upon the matriarch’s death. As soon as the news of Benezia’s death had spread to asari space, the sum had been transferred to Liara. The sum was considerable, and Liara had only used a little to travel to Thessia and to hire a lawyer to handle the rest of the legal matters as her mother had not left behind a will. Most of what she had received from the trust fund, she now transferred to secure the bid, her offer so ridiculously substantial that she had to win.

She did.

The individual with the information got in touch with her and introduced himself as Feron. He claimed to know more and wanted to meet in person on Omega as soon as possible.

Omega was a notorious haven for outlaws and criminals, far away from asari space. The travel costs alone would eat up the rest of the credits she had currently on her account, and Liara didn’t even have proper gear.

It had been late by the time Feron had gotten in touch with her, so Liara decided to sleep and contact the lawyer in the morning. She had to know at what stage the liquidation of assets was and when she could expect getting more credits to fund her expenses.

She went to bed, assured that the inheritance procedures would be completed fast, as she was her mother’s only heir.

The next day Liara discovered that thanks to Benezia’s recent unsavoury associations, the officials had seen fit to freeze the matriarch’s assets for the time being whilst they investigated her activities with Saren. Liara pressed the lawyer by playing the role of the fickle, greedy heiress and found out that the bureaucrats were backed by the Council, which left Liara essentially between a rock and a hard place.

She was so close to discovering something the rest of the galaxy didn’t want to think about, so she was adamant about pursuing the lead. Besides, she had already spent a small fortune tracking it down. 

She might have been disgraced in academia, but she was still a doctor, and despite the rumours about her, she did have some leeway with the university. So, as mentioned before, what harm could another crazy endeavour among her many crazy endeavours do at this point?

Now, she needed a believable story.

* * *

“Why do you want to travel to Omega?” professor Ledala asked in a bewildered tone and looked at the younger asari standing in the middle of her office.

Liara inhaled slowly, knowing that she wasn’t that good a liar yet, and repeated the rehearsed story of a relic that had ended up on the station after an attack on a research outpost. She stressed how the relic could potentially jump her research ahead by years, but also emphasized that it might be a hoax and that no larger team was needed to look for it.

“Hmm,” Ledala hummed pensively. “It does sound very important and we should check this relic, but if it turns out to be a fluke, we will have wasted the department's funds for nothing,” she remarked in an acrid tone as she walked around her desk, idly adjusting the files stacked on the desk..

Liara stepped closer, steeling herself to continue with the charade she had invented. 

“That’s why I am volunteering to go alone,” Liara insisted with a serious tone, forcing her hands to stay at her sides to not wring them together nervously. 

“Alone?” the older asari repeated wryly. She glanced at Liara with piercingly critical eyes. “You would be killed. I know how your mission on Therum went.”

Liara groaned internally and felt shame and failure creep up on her. She would never live down getting stuck in a prothean energy field. That first impression had haunted her while she had been part of the Normandy’s crew and rather than being taken on missions, she had been left behind quite often. Certainly, another possible reason for that could have been the lack of trust towards her and her inexperience. Liara wasn’t completely untested in combat, but she did rely heavily on her biotics instead of weapons, which was unfortunate when they fought against the geth as often as they did. She did lack the experience of working in an organized team, so she could see why Williams would rather keep her on the Normandy than take her ashore – the rest of the crew was far more qualified and could form up even under fire. 

Liara was about to swallow in her defeat and turn on her heel to leave Ledala’s office when the older asari spoke.

“You can go, T’Soni,” Ledala said evenly. She stared into Liara’s eyes, as if to make sure that her words registered. “If you get yourself a bodyguard.”

“A bodyguard,” Liara repeated, her throat suddenly parched, and felt both insulted and stupid at the same time. Involving anyone else would be dangerous, but at the same time, she felt naive for not thinking of it herself. Including another person, a hired guard specifically, could be the key to ensuring the success of her mission.

“Yes,” the professor said and settled behind her desk, turning on her computer.

Tapping away on the keyboard, the professor peered at the screen and continued with a slightly absent tone: “I can probably even recommend one to you. He accompanied a colleague of mine to Lorek in the Omega Nebula. Her research was about asari colonial history in the Terminus Systems, so she hired a certain human for a fair price and he was quite adept in keeping her safe. I do, however, remember her saying that he should learn to keep his fast-talking to a minimum as his “glib tongue did him not much credit”. Also, he is a biotic and ex-Alliance, so he has the training and the know-how for the job.”

Ledala turned back to look at Liara, evidently expecting the younger asari to respond to all this information favourably.

“Oh, that sounds good,” Liara said in a forcibly mustered tone of relief. Ledala smiled approvingly and returned her attention back to the screen. The sounds of the keyboard filled the office. 

“There, I’ve sent his contact information to you,” the professor said, standing up, and walked an astonished but compliant Liara out of her office. The made-up story had worked.

“You are free to set out whenever you want but remember to key someone from the department into the receipt transfers,” Ledala reminded with a polite expression.

The younger asari tried to process her minor victory and barely had the presence of mind to hastily say: “Thank you professor!”

She left the room with the same swiftness one might experience upon resurfacing after a dive underwater, lungs burning with the urge to inhale. She walked down the hallway until she heard the doors to Ledala’s office close and then broke into a run. 

Her plan had worked!

Liara rushed to the lobby and exited the building breathlessly. Afterwards she realized that the impulse to run had come from the tension dissolving in her body. She stood in place to catch her breath for a moment, before opening her omnitool to view the contact information of the bodyguard candidate. He possibly was a mercenary in the Terminus Systems and probably took on all kinds of jobs, but if he had carried out his duties and tasks as agreed upon with one of her own colleagues, then he was probably her best bet.

Tapping the forwarded file open, Liara stared at the picture of a human male with rough features. The name above the image read J. Shepard.

* * *

Arranging matters with the human mercenary was surprisingly easy. He introduced himself briefly with unexpected professionalism and communicated with polite, straightforward sentences.

Because she was communicating through her university affiliated address, Liara tried not to reveal all the details in the messages. Instead, she wrote to him that she needed to go to Omega, which was true, and that she needed to meet an informant in a place called “Afterlife”, which was also true. Lastly, she informed him that she was searching for an artifact, which was somewhat close to the truth. She did divulge that as she did not know the layout of the station well, and since the mission completely depended on the data the informant would impart, it was hard to determine the total duration of the mission beforehand.

The man seemed to take the vagueness of the details and the uncertainty of the length of their business quite well. He only stated that it was unusual and that his rate might go up. Liara told the mercenary that the university would handle his payments as needed.

His name sounded vaguely familiar, but Liara had more important things to focus on than one human mercenary. 

With university funding, Liara was able to not only cover the travel fees but to get herself light body armour, as well as some rations and medigel.

She left Thessia without making any further announcements of her plans. 

* * *

Liara travelled without contacting anyone. She didn’t allow herself to feel fear or doubt, but the last leg of the journey already had her stressed out. The company arranging her ride from the fuel depot to Omega sounded shady to begin with, but their transport was apparently the only reasonably priced option available at the moment.

Indeed, the final stretch of the journey to Omega turned out less than stellar. The ship was an old version of the human-made Kowloon class freighters, and it was clear that on the more lawful side of the galaxy the freighter would not have been considered spaceworthy. Three obviously ill-meaning male individuals, two of them turians and one batarian, represented the entirety of the company’s strength. For the entire duration of the journey Liara could not find a comfortable place to sit, nor could she take her eyes away from the trio.

Once close enough to Omega to be hailed by its Dock Control, the three males deviously suggested that she should pay them more before they docked. The freighter had definitely seen better days and Liara was apprehensive about using her biotics in case the hull of the pathetic ship suffered damage. If that happened, getting to Omega would be the least of her problems.

Instead, she attempted to reason with her escorts firmly, but they ganged up on her. Having no other choice, she defended herself with biotics, throwing one of the turians against the wall. He seemed to fall unconscious upon the impact but the other two managed to grab her. The batarian punched her in the face hard enough that her vision swam from the pain.

While Liara stumbled and tried to shake the pain off, the turian who had grabbed her took hold of both of her hands and taped them behind her back. The batarian shoved a pistol in her face .

“Fucking two-eyes,” he spat out. “You should have just paid more!”  
  
Strangely, Liara wasn’t didn’t feel fear at the moment, probably because the pain in her cheek still burned hot. She stared into the batarian’s dark eyes and the alien growled and pressed the pistol's muzzle under her jaw. 

“Hey,” the turian behind Liara said and nodded at the other one who had been thrown against the wall. “Brutnus doesn’t look too good.” 

The wall held a fresh streak of blue blood, and on the floor, there was a slowly growing puddle beside the wounded turian’s head. The batarian cast a menacing glare at Liara but lowered his pistol and walked over to his fallen comrade. After a short examination, he muttered something under his breath and marched back to the asari.

Raising his arm as if to strike Liara again, he snarled: “You’ll pay for this -”

“A _ttention, batarian freighter!_ ” a voice echoed through the comms and the batarian’s fist halted. “ _This is Omega Control. Are you going to dock or not?_ ” The operator sounded bored.

“What should we do?” the turian behind Liara asked uncertainly. The batarian’s eyes darted to their fallen comrade and back to the comms. Liara knew that in the situation she was in – unarmed, bound, being threatened with a pistol – she didn’t exactly have an upper hand, but she surmised that she was at least intellectually above these ruffians. Their indecisiveness was telling. 

“He might bleed to death,” Liara stated noncommittally and glanced at the injured turian. If they docked, she might get a window of opportunity to slip away or at least have enough room to use her biotics and make a run for it. She trusted herself enough to manage at least that.

“ _Is something wrong? What’s the hold up?_ ” the operator asked through the comms in the same uninterested tone. The speaker sounded female and turian. Her voice had a distinct flanging sound when she uttered the next words: “ _I don’t have all day_.”

“Shit,” the batarian muttered in frustration, but after a pause walked over to the communications panel.

“This is the batarian freighter Kaskonak. We are ready to begin docking procedures now”, the batarian said reluctantly, and then added hastily: “One of us is injured.”

The person on the other end scoffed loudly enough that the sound of it echoed throughout the freighter.

“ _Yeah well, I’m not a medic. Deal with it,”_ was the derisive reply _. ”Docking permission granted.”_

 _Such a warm welcome,_ Liara thought apprehensively and swallowed. _And such a sour start for my mission._ The asari began to feel a little more optimistic about her immediate future. Surely events could not take a turn for the worse at this point. Right?

“What’s the plan?” asked the turian, still left standing. From the corner of her eye, Liara saw his mandibles twitch nervously. The batarian had seated himself down to pilot the freighter.

“We’ll deal with her once we dock and get some help for Brutnus,” the batarian said dismissively. He then continued in a colder tone: “Easier to get rid of a dead asari on the station.”

Liara swallowed again and felt the blood drain from her face. Events, it seemed, could indeed take a turn for the worse.

* * *

The turian pushed Liara through the airlock and she coughed when the stale, warm air of the docking tube filled her airways. The air smelled of old, burnt plastic and sweat from multiple species.

“Walk!” the batarian ordered and pulled her by the arm. Liara cringed at the painfully tight grip but did as told. She had thought that the thugs would kill her aboard the freighter, but it seemed like they had some other more sinister plans in mind. The two talked over her head, planning out loud what they would do to her once they took care of their injured comrade. Liara wisely decided to tune them out – if she listened and started to worry about their plans, she could miss a chance to escape. Right now, she was stuck. Turians were fast and could easily catch up to her speed and overpower her, so running was pointless. Resorting to violence, such as kicking at the batarian in front of her, was also futile.

They came out of the docking tube to a dimly lit corridor. Some of the light fixtures were out of commission. The few that illuminated the passageway revealed stains on the floor and walls, in addition to the signs of wear and use in the panels. Tiny dust motes danced lazily in the air and Liara wondered briefly what they might have consisted of. Very quickly, she realized that it was probably best to not know. 

“Let her go,” a voice rang out from the shadows ahead. It sounded male and human. The asari strained her eyes in the darkness and could barely make out the outline of just that — a human man. Liara saw the glint of a pistol in the stranger’s hands.

The batarian let out an annoyed groan and aimed his own weapon. “Who are y-!”

The human fired his gun and the batarian sank to the floor, a bloody hole between his four eyes. Liara dropped to her knees, attempting to cover her head. The turian was caught off-guard, surprised by the attacker and the quick fall of his comrade. The assailant’s silhouette came alight with biotics and the turian was enveloped in a mass effect field before he even had the opportunity to train his pistol at the human.

He struggled vainly as he floated in place and the human moved out of his spot in the shadows and stepped into the light. Liara hazarded a look at the stranger, and to her relief, his facial features appeared familiar. He walked past her to his captive, arm extended and still in control of the mass effect field around the turian. The human flicked his wrist and there was a loud crack of exploding biotics and shattering bone. The turian went limp, his neck snapped.

The mass effect field around him went out and his body sank to the floor. For a moment it was silent enough for Liara to hear her own quick breaths.

“Dr. T’Soni, I presume?” the human said in a surprisingly polite tone and Liara craned her head to see the man holster his pistol and saunter back towards her. 

“You must be Shepard?” she asked, even though she was fairly certain that it was him. But as her mission had started so awfully, it couldn’t hurt to err on the side of caution.

“That’s me”, the man answered lightly, while his eyes seemed to examine her closely. He knelt slowly on one knee behind her back and took out a small bladed knife from somewhere under the armour plate covering his shin. “I’m going to cut the tape.”

Liara had managed her expectations of him, anticipating him to be quite brutish and rough as human men ostensibly were at their worst, so his apparent consideration towards her baffled her a little. 

“Thank you,” the asari said meekly. Shepard cut the bindings around her wrists carefully but didn’t attempt to remove them. She hissed quietly as she brought her hands in front of her and the strain in her shoulders alleviated. With indignation, she tore off the pieces of tape and scattered them on the floor. 

In the meantime, Shepard had stood up and was now extending his hand to help her on her feet.

She took it after only a second of hesitation. She certainly hadn’t pictured meeting the mercenary like this. They had previously agreed to arrange their meeting spot when she knew the exact dock where she would arrive, but as things had turned out, that had not been possible. 

Now that she was at Shepard’s eye level, the man examined Liara’s face and grimaced slightly, eyes directed at her injured cheek. His own appearance was somewhat weathered, with small lines around his eyes. He had a large, already faded scar on the right side of his face and a fair amount of facial hair on his chin and jaw. In person, he didn’t look quite so severe as he had in the photo attached to his contact information. The look in his eyes was attentive and empathetic. Liara hadn’t expected a mercenary on Omega to have eyes like that.

They showed genuine concern when he asked: “Do you need some medi-gel for that?” He gestured towards her wound.

“Yes. Please,” Liara agreed and gratefully took the offered package. She opened it and dipped her fingertips in the cool substance. Shepard moved away, walking past her again, to give her some privacy to tend to her injuries. He was oddly considerate for a common mercenary. 

Liara spread the medi-gel on the contusion and sighed quietly as it soothed the pain away. Shepard’s voice startled her, and she turned to look at him in case he had tried to speak to her. Instead, he stood over the dead batarian, engaged in a call with someone.

Liara took a quick look at both ends of the corridor. No one had come, even though the noise they had made was bound to have been loud enough to attract some attention. Shepard finished the call and returned to her.

“Nobody came to see what the commotion was about,” Liara said quizzically. “Is this sort of thing normal on Omega?” she asked and motioned towards the dead batarian and turian. Shepard shrugged and looked at the bodies indifferently. Just from his lacklustre reaction, Liara could surmise that this sort of violence was common.

“Eh, regular occurrence,” the man said after a pause and met her gaze. How could his eyes convey such calmness after killing two people? Liara’s mind fumbled over questions about him, but then a more pressing query surfaced in her thoughts.

“How did you know to come to this dock?” she asked, genuinely curious about how her circumstances had changed for the better in such timely fashion.

“I know someone in the dock controls. Just finished a call with her,” Shepard explained straight-forwardly. Then he looked away and seemed to withdraw into himself a little. “I got a bit worried when I didn’t get any messages from you, so I told my contact I was expecting a client. She heard the scuffle in the freighter and alerted me.” Shepard's eyes returned to hers and he grinned wryly. “Lucky it was you in there.”

His answer painted a grim picture of Omega for Liara. It was slowly dawning on her that the space station was a world of its own, where connections were essential for survival and violence and murder were commonplace. It was truly the destination of desperate souls whose hopes had failed elsewhere. Liara wondered if she fit the bill.

“That was fortunate,” Liara breathed, knowing in her bones that Omega would never sit well with her.

Shepard shifted and took a step back, as if sensing her morose mood and wanting to distance himself from it.

“You needed to go to Afterlife?” he offered in that light, calm tone that was at odds with their surroundings. Nevertheless, she had to come to terms with the fact that her mission had only just begun and that she would have to steel herself for whatever might happen from now on. And on Omega, anything could happen.

“Yes, let’s go,” she said with forced determination and followed his steps.

“Stay close to me and walk confidently,” Shepard instructed over his shoulder as he led the way. “Like you’ve been here a thousand times already.”

* * *

Liara couldn’t help but gawk a little at the Afterlife Club. Several asari and human dancers occupied different platforms around a domelike structure, writhing and twisting their bodies provocatively in time with the pulsating music. It was loud enough that the bass resonated through the floor panels and made the ground tremble slightly beneath Liara’s boots.

Everything was bathed in yellow and orange hues from the lights and a perpetual haze of wafting cigarette smoke and artificial fog hung in the air. Liara’s eyes watered slightly, irritated, as she followed Shepard, a few paces behind him. Liara knew enough to avoid attracting attention. She approached the bar as any traveller might and leaned on the illuminated counter. An elcor on her right side was a welcome shield from any curious eyes. 

Shepard settled on her left side. He nodded a greeting at the salarian bartender, who inconspicuously responded in kind. All these exchanges and unknown social rules made Liara feel ill at ease. It was straining to play the role of someone who belonged to such a place.

“How are you going to meet your informant?” Shepard asked, casually leaning on his arm. Liara opened her mouth to answer but the elcor’s monotonous voice interrupted her. 

“Said in a disbelieving tone: Looking for informants? Baffled whisper: In here?” he butted in and craned his massive head to look at the two. Liara’s eyes drifted from the elcor’s face to the counter, where several glasses with straws stood empty. There was no place in the galaxy without its share of desperate drunkards.

“No one asked you,” Shepard said sternly, warning him to mind his own business. The elcor stared back silently. Satisfied with this result, Shepard turned his attention back to Liara, nodding to her to continue.

“Defensively: I don’t know any informants,” the elcor muttered loudly and Shepard let out a frustrated groan. Liara craned her head to look at the massive alien over her shoulder.

“Sarcastically: What do I look like? The information minister of this place?” The elcor droned on, but then seemed to forget them and moved on to mutter something about the dancers to himself. Liara shook her head and leaned closer to Shepard, who also hunched down.

The asari cleared her throat to make sure her lowered voice would be clear enough. “I’m looking for someone who might be a salarian or a drell judging by the name,” she whispered.

“What’s the name then?” Shepard asked.

“Feron.”

“You are looking for Feron?” Shepard raised his brows in mild surprise, straightened up and seemed to look for something with his eyes.

“He’s there,” the man declared and pointed with his index finger along the circular bar counter, beyond the still muttering elcor. Liara’s eyes landed on a figure wearing a coat with the hood pulled over his head. The illuminated counter revealed the scaly, reptilian face of the individual. He was a drell. 

“You!” Liara exclaimed excitedly, glad that finding Feron had been so easy.

The drell spotted her approach and turned to face her. As soon as Liara was close enough to have eye contact with him, she started: “You can tell me about - !”

“Not here!” he hissed forcefully, but then his eyes spotted Shepard, trailing after the asari. “What’s this?” he asked with an affronted tone and apparently forgot to keep his voice down.

“A bodyguard,” Shepard answered standoffishly, crossing his arms and arching his brow. “Hi, Feron.”

Feron scowled hard and turned his head sharply in Liara’s direction, but before he could retort, the asari cut him off.

“I don’t know Omega well. I needed a guide. I hardly trust you either, so I hired a bodyguard,” Liara explained matter-of-factly and decided to stare him down like one of her more indolent apprentices at the university. Feron seemed to have something in common with them, because it worked, and he averted his eyes.

“Shit,” Feron muttered, yielding reluctantly, and slid off the barstool. “Fine. But we can’t talk here. C’mon.”

Feron stalked away with his head hunched and hands shoved into the pockets of his coat, looking like the picture of a stranger one should not accompany away from public places. Liara glanced at Shepard to see what he made of the situation. He had a resigned look on his face as he too watched Feron’s retreating back. The asari didn’t know what to think about the fact that the two apparently knew each other, but there seemed to be an ample amount of sincere dislike between them, and that made her relax a little. The likeliness of them working together to deceive her appeared slim.  
  
Shepard sighed heavily but nodded reticently. Liara didn’t know what made the human hesitate, but she decided to follow his cue and stay on her guard. They walked after the drell and exited the club.

Feron waited for them outside, but as soon as he saw them following, he continued on his way, turning to one of the dim alleys of Omega. The station management apparently liked the gloomy, dark atmosphere, seeing as many of the light fixtures were broken or burned out. The neon signs and advertisements bathed the litter on the floors in bright colours, making it look like misplaced confetti.

Despite her caution, Liara took a few longer steps to match Feron’s pace. By doing this, she wanted to show the drell that she wouldn’t be so easily duped and that she wasn’t afraid of him. She felt him study her, but kept her eyes trained forward. Was he looking for weaknesses? Was he trying to analyze her, to gauge her resolve? What was he looking at?

“Some bodyguard you are, Shepard,” Feron remarked dryly. “Your client is already injured.”

Liara didn’t turn to look, but she heard Shepard’s sharp intake of air. With a raised hand, she stalled the human and turned to face the drell, stopping them all in their tracks. They had emerged from the alley and were now standing in a repurposed, sparsely lighted service tunnel.

“This happened before I even docked here,” Liara said firmly while pointing at her injured cheek. Feron pursed his lips and scoffed quietly.

“See!” Shepard exclaimed indignantly after sputtering momentarily. The drell cast his dark eyes at the man. He didn’t sneer, but he wasn’t very far from it.

 _They are definitely not working together,_ Liara thought to herself and wondered if the animosity was due to some unresolved issue between them or if the aggression was a generic disposition exhibited by males everywhere in the galaxy. 

“I have to warn you, Omega is not like the Citadel,” Feron said breezily, confident in his ability to direct the topic of conversation, as he turned on his heel and continued walking. “There are no trains to take us to our destination so we will have to travel mostly on foot.”

Liara saw Shepard frown deeply from the corner of her eye.

“Richpants Feron has been to the Citadel, oooh,” the human mocked and waved his hands, feigning impressed surprise. For some reason, it was this childish display that got a rise out of the drell. He whipped around, marching back to the human.

He hissed through clenched teeth: “Shepard, I swear if you don’t - !”

Suddenly, the human pushed the drell towards a side corridor and grabbed Liara by the wrist, pulling her along. 

“Get behind the corner and shut up!” Shepard hissed quietly in turn as he ushered the two others to huddle in the shadows. Liara almost yelped in surprise, but both men shushed her. The asari briefly wondered if she had been wrong in her deduction about the nature of their relationship and if this was to be her unfortunate end, until she heard the sound of footsteps. 

“We’re being followed,” Feron said, barely audibly, and even then, Shepard just could not relinquish the opportunity to say something scathing.

“Observant, Feron”, the human muttered quietly. Liara had to elbow him in the side for being so juvenile and then quiet his more surprised than pained gasp. 

The sound of footsteps drew closer and closer and, finally, the men stopped their bickering long enough to almost hold their breaths. The footsteps stopped for a moment, as if their stalker had paused to look for their trail. There was silence for another moment as their pursuer likely turned around to see any signs of them in different directions. At last, after what felt like hours, the footsteps regained their rhythm and the sound started to recede into the distance.

All three of them took deep breaths after they were sure no one else remained in the tunnel. The tension, however, had reminded Liara of why she had come to Omega in the first place, and that all she had done so far was have a stroll in its dank alleys whilst listening to two supposedly mature men bicker like children.

“Enough!” Liara huffed and turned her attention to the drell. “Feron, I need answers,” she demanded. “Where are you taking me? What do you know about - !”

Feron raised his hands swiftly, gesturing Liara to lower her voice. The three of them huddled closer together again.

“The information you are looking for wasn’t easy to find,“ Feron explained and then sighed dramatically. “Not even for me.”

“Get to the point,” Shepard said impatiently. Liara was somewhat grateful to him for stating aloud what she was thinking. The drell seemed to enjoy the sound of his own voice as well as theatrics. He looked offended and sulkily pulled the hood of his coat down.

“You’re right, Liara,” he continued seriously and lifted his eyes back to meet the asari’s. “I do know where Commander Williams is.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this was enjoyable, even if it was a bit slow-paced.
> 
> About that elcor, he's in the comic and that interaction was so weird, but kind of charming so I decided to keep the interaction. 
> 
> In like early plans of this story, I had planned on having Kaidan take Shepard's place as the First Human Spectre, but Kaidan and Liara don't have that kind of friction and for some reason, Ashley is easier for me to write even though I like Kaidan more. Writing is weird. 
> 
> Go read the next chaper!


	2. Everyone's a little illusive

“But you won’t like what I have to tell you,” Feron added with a regretful voice.

Liara let out a breath she hadn’t been aware of holding. Her shoulders slumped down. She had expected to hear bad news, but she couldn’t help feeling guilty and defeated. If she had arrived earlier, would the news have been the same? 

That thought brought another wave of negative emotions and the weight of them had Liara cast her eyes down. 

“Dead?” she asked, with a small voice.

“I’m sorry, what?” Shepard retorted abruptly. Among all the negative feelings Liara was currently experiencing, dread quickly climbed on top as the man stepped right in front of her. 

“Since when has Commander Williams been a ‘prothean artifact’?” Shepard asked indignantly. So far, he had seemed unexpectedly amicable and non-threatening towards her, but now his aggressive stance and intense glare revealed fearsome qualities and Liara had to will herself not to move backwards when he towered over her. His face was uncomfortably close to hers. 

“You lied to me!” the man said with a biting, accusing tone. “When did you plan to let me know?”

As it happened, Liara had planned on telling him, upon meeting with him on Omega. She hadn’t planned in advance on what she would have actually said, but she had planned to think about that on the final part of her journey, but then she didn’t have the time to plan, being so unsettled by her company and then the whole incident on that freighter happened and then other things happened after that. Even so, Liara had to admit that she had gone and forgotten to inform Shepard that the mission was quite a bit more different than what she had disclosed in writing. His anger was therefore quite understandable and Liara couldn’t blame him for it. 

Liara was trying to find words to say, but nothing sensible came forth. She just stared back at Shepard with wide eyes, trying to find hints on what to say from his features. His brows were furrowed in annoyance and his mouth was pressed into a thin, angry line. The look in his eyes was more worried than angry. 

As if noticing that she had noticed, the human whipped around and let out a frustrated groan. He threw his hands into the air and started pacing, muttering angrily to himself. Liara was a little unaccustomed to reading human body language, but she had seen Ashley angry at the Council enough times to know that Shepard’s display of anger was convincing, but something in it was off. 

“I should just walk out on this job,” Shepard said mostly to himself and continued to pace, eyes glued to the ground. “I knew the vague details were off!”

Feron had watched the whole exchange from the sidelines with mild interest. He snorted loudly.

“You took the job based on ‘vague details’?” Feron commented, smirking and crossing his arms.

“Shut up Feron!” Shepard barked at the drell without casting a look at him. “I’m not talking to you!”

Feron only snickered in answer and continued to watch how the scene played out. Shephard's steps slowed down and for a moment it seemed like he was about to turn on his heel and just walk away. 

Liara could finally decipher that the human was displaying signs of nervousness. Why was he nervous, she didn’t know, but judging by how nervous Shepard seemed to be, it would be better to find out why, but that would have to come later. Right now, she needed to prevent Shepard from leaving. No doubt the human’s services would be needed in order for her to complete her mission.  
  
There was one source of power that everyone in the galaxy respected, from the rich to the poor. The lack of that power had made her turn to the university and rely on their funding and ultimately that had led her to him. That power would make Shepard stay and that same power probably had prevented him from leaving already. 

Liara swallowed, the needed words ready on her tongue for once.

“You walk out,” she said plainly. “You won’t get paid.” 

That got Shepard’s attention. He stopped in his tracks as if struck into a biotic stasis field. Facing away from Liara and Feron, he inhaled deeply, while slowly curling his hands into fists. He was visibly seething.

“For fuck’s sake,” the man muttered in a dejected tone after stewing in his own frustration for a moment and turned to face Liara again. Feron tutted mockingly.

“You want to talk about how _I’m_ handling my finances, hmm? You can’t even walk away from a job you don’t want to be in,” the drell taunted and the human glared back with a sour look that would’ve made Liara pale.

“Shut up, Feron,” Shepard said with an icy tone that only worked in making the drell snort again. With a resigned sigh, the human turned his attention to Liara.

“I want to know something, though,” he said with a voice that was just a touch off from being downright demanding. 

“Is the Alliance involved?” Shepard asked with a militant tone that didn’t betray any emotions. Liara looked him in the eyes, wondering if this was the cause of his nervousness and trying to see why he would be so agitated over Alliance involvement, but this time his eyes didn’t reveal anything.

“No,” Liara replied truthfully and Shepard held her eyes for another moment, studying them, before accepting her answer with a curt nod.

After a moment of silence, Feron cleared his throat and stepped forward.

“Now that Shepard’s hissy fit is over,” the choice of words earned Feron another dirty look from the aforementioned human. “If we can get back on track,” the drell suggested and looked at the asari imploringly. Liara nodded her consent for Feron to continue relaying his information.

“Whether Williams is dead, I’d say yes,” Feron opined and continued with an uncertain expression on his scaly features. “Or at least close to it. It’s hard to say. The body has been recovered, in some kind of stasis pod – if not dead, certainly not alive,” Feron said and allowed his voice to express a bit of sympathy. He blinked and stared at Liara with a pitying look. “I know you came a long way and even went through the trouble of hiring,” Feron glanced at Shepard and waved his hand towards the human as if struggling to find a word to describe the man. “… a bodyguard of sorts. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.”

Liara drew in a deep breath, letting the information sink in. She ran her hand along her scalp thinking of what she wanted to do next. As a researcher she had learned to always check or even double check and triple check her evidence and sources. Best way to be certain of things was to verify the source and that was what she intended to do next.

“That’s,” Liara started, but cleared her throat, knowing what she wanted to say and how to say it to Feron. “I need to see. For myself,” she declared firmly.

Feron blinked again and looked a little astonished at the asari’s words. He studied her before stepping closer and touching her arm briefly.

“Liara, I should warn you,” the drell said slowly. “You are not the only one interested in finding Williams.”

From the corner of her eye, Liara saw Shepard’s expression turn tense. It seemed that the Alliance was not the only thing the human was worried about. He definitely knew more than he let on. 

“I suggest you let the dead sleep,” Feron said with his gravely, deep voice. By now, Liara was acutely aware that something more was going on and both of the men knew more than they let on. Feron was trying to lead her away from the lead, while Shepard was nervous enough to consider abandoning the job. Something was amiss, something was being purposefully hidden from her. Too bad she had a reputation as a tenacious researcher and she would brave awful weather conditions, pirates and insane amounts of paperwork to continue her research. Handling two exasperating men with something to hide was nothing in comparison.

“In that case, I guess my words didn’t clearly translate to drell,” Liara said with a steely voice and looked Feron in the eyes. “I said I need to see Williams for myself.”

Feron looked surprised again and Shepard looked a little taken aback from Liara’s change in demeanor. Then the drell chuckled and shrugged with a smirk.

“Heh, it’s your money. Your life,” Feron said with a sly smile dancing on his lips as he pulled the hood of his coat up. 

* * *

Feron led the group further into the tunnels of Omega. No one else seemed to like strolling in these parts as there was no graffiti on the walls or litter on the ground. The echo of their footsteps was the only sound filling the tunnel. 

Feron led the way, while Liara and Shepard followed behind the drell walking by each other’s side. Liara’s eyes wandered along the tunnel structure, imagining how busy it had been when the mining operations had been running in full force. The walls had ledges along the length of them. Perhaps something had been transported along them or workers were sent to different areas along the ledges. 

“What’s your interest in this?” Shepard said as he rolled his shoulders and the sound of the armor plates hitting each other drew the asari’s attention to him. Liara looked at the human quizzically, not entirely certain if the question was directed at her. 

“Sorry?” she asked sheepishly.  
  


“I said, what’s your interest in this?” the man repeated clearly enough that the sound of his voice echoed in the tunnel.  
  


“Gods, Shepard do you live under a rock?” Feron said over his shoulder. 

“I do live on a rock, and it’s called Omega. And sometimes it’s hard to get news on this forsaken rock,” the human replied to the drell. Then he looked back at Liara and asked again: “What is your interest in finding Williams?”

That was a question that Liara had asked herself too for a while now, but never could find a clear answer to. In fact, she had almost avoided thinking about that question and what kind of answers that train of thought would lead to. The reality was, that she had jumped on this search to avoid dealing with her personal life. Of course this investigation and the subsequent search were the only things that made her feel anything in her present life and she felt that finding Williams’ body was important and – 

_I am procrastinating. Plain and simple_ , Liara thought with sudden clarity to her own chagrin. This mission was just her elaborate way of procrastinating. Answering Shepard by saying that her interest in finding Williams was to procrastinate would sound completely ludicrous. It _was_ ludicrous, hysterical even. The asari almost gave into the urge to laugh out loud at this finding, it was just too absurd.

“I was part of her crew,” Liara replied stiffly after a pregnant and long pause, and was happy to leave the conversation at that for now. Shepard thought otherwise.

“Why are you searching for her, you of all people?” Shepard asked with a sincerely inquisitive tone. “I mean, no offense but isn’t this something the Alliance should do?”

Liara thought about her next words carefully, before answering. This line of questioning proved that Shepard hadn’t fully bought her word on not being associated with the Human Alliance. Just proved to show that she too shouldn’t fully trust her present company.  
  
“I can’t speak for the Alliance, obviously,” Liara explained and looked over at Shepard’s features. Her thoughts momentarily detoured and she wondered why he felt so familiar to her. ”But I’d wager that the political climate has something to do with that.”

Shepard held her eyes for a moment, before turning his gaze back onto the tunnel stretching before them. He muttered something unsavory about the Alliance and politics under his breath. 

Shepard’s reaction amused Liara and she nearly smiled to herself. Hating politics seemed like a common trait shared by Alliance soldiers, whether they were ex-soldiers or currently serving. 

Silence fell upon the group again, but it wasn’t long before Shepard seemed to get agitated and started to scan their surroundings. The lights in this section of the tunnel seemed to be working better than in the rest of the station, but despite the tunnel being well-lit, Liara could feel Shepard getting more and more tense the further they walked in. She didn’t know whether it was his state reflecting on her, but she got tenser too, feeling like they were being watched. 

“Feron, we are walking into an ambush,” Shepard muttered in a low voice to the drell. The human slowed his steps and stuck out his arm in front of Liara to slow her down as well. Liara halted and searched the walls with her eyes. She couldn’t see anyone, but it definitely wasn’t just Shepard being high-strung. They were being watched.

Finally Feron stopped and cast an annoyed look at the asari and the human and opened his mouth as if to say something, when mercenaries in blue armors started to vault over the upper ledges on the walls.

“Blue Suns!” Feron shouted and pulled out his pistol and aimed at a turian that was running towards him. In a split-second there was movement everywhere around them. Shepard positioned himself in front of Liara and reached to unholster the shotgun from behind his back. 

“Stay behind me!” the man yelled as he shot down three mercenaries approaching them. Liara watched the action around her and felt useless, as more mercenaries climbed over the walls, coming after them. Shepard took down more mercenaries, but was forced to move backwards as more of the mercs started to close in on them and he bumped into Liara.

“Can you do a singularity or a shockwave?” he asked over his shoulder. Liara took a moment to look at a group of mercenaries, approaching them in a tight group.

“I can create a singularity field,” Liara confirmed and stepped out from behind Shepard, her body glowing with her biotics. The singularity sphere appeared right among the mercenaries and many of them were frozen to the spot or lifted to the air.

“Nice!” Shepard called out, but grabbed Liara by the arm and pushed her away. The asari stumbled, but her body seemed to know better what to do and so she broke into a run. The Blue Suns were mostly coming from the direction Liara and the others had come from and while there were some ahead of them, the mercenaries hadn’t closed the net around them yet. There was a chance to escape by running.

“Feron! Make a run for it!” Shepard shouted and Liara could hear a commanding, military tone to his voice. Feron took a few more shots at the mercenaries, before turning around and running into the same direction with Liara, while trying to dodge any oncoming Blue Suns mercenaries. 

Liara could hear Shepard lay down some covering fire and send a biotic shockwave that made the floor panels tremor. The shockwave must have hit her singularity, because there was a loud sound of combined biotics exploding. The crack of the explosion briefly deafened Liara and she didn’t hear someone running after her. She was grabbed by someone and she heard Feron gasp as he too was captured by a mercenary.

Sound of gun fire stopped and despite Liara’s struggling her hands were pulled forcibly behind her. Another mercenary moved behind Liara’s back in order to bind her hands together and she barely managed to stifle a groan. This was the second time in the matter of hours.

_I’m starting to hate this place,_ Liara thought tersely as she struggled against the hold of the mercenary behind her.

Despite her heavy breathing and all the commotion the group of mercenaries caused, she heard someone get punched and a pained grunt followed the sound. She whipped her head to see that Feron was also in the process of getting his hands tied. He looked defiant but unharmed, so far.

Liara’s attention was pulled to a group of the mercenaries dragging a struggling Shepard closer to where the other two were held. Shepard’s nose was bleeding, but that didn’t seem to have deterred his willingness to put up a fight and two mercenaries were needed to hold him relatively still. 

Liara was just about to start struggling with renewed determination, until a gruff voice ordered: “Hold it, asari!”

Liara stilled and turned her head to face the speaker. Among the Blue Suns was a large male krogan and he walked towards her, aiming a pistol at her while approaching.

“You move as much as to flinch, you’ll have more gouges in your pretty little skull than you were born with!” The krogan threatened with a confident sneer. So this was the leader of this group. The krogan briefly looked over at Feron and Shepard dismissively before turning his attention to Liara. The asari frowned, why would the leader of the Blue Suns spare his undivided attention on her?

“You came all the way to Omega, looking for someone who’s dead. The Shadow Broker wants to know why,”The krogan said smugly and waved his pistol around as if contemplating on which part of her body he should aim the weapon. Liara had to think quickly. Now the Shadow Broker was involved somehow. The information of her mission was much more widespread than she had anticipated. But, why?

“My interest is my own business, krogan,” the asari said as evenly as she could, while her mind raced with questions. In order to answer those questions she needed more information and the krogan had already volunteered some details. If distracted, he could reveal more. Unfortunately, right now the only way for her to distract the krogan to slip up more information was to annoy him. That was dangerous, but as humans aptly put it; nothing ventured, nothing gained. With her heart beating rapidly in her chest, she said with the best snooty tone she could muster: “Not that of some backwater krogan mercenary, and certainly not the business of some distant information broker.”

As expected, the krogan didn’t seem happy with Liara’s answer and he stepped closer to her. The asari fought to keep her features as blank as possible.

With a glowering tone the Krogan said: “Everything’s my business, lady. But especially this. Williams is a hot commodity.”

Liara held her breath as the krogan leaned his massive head towards her, but she stared back with defiance even when she could feel the muzzle of his pistol point straight at her heart. 

“Now talk,” the krogan growled. ”Before I decide to -,”

There was a shot. Liara blinked.

The krogan’s face exploded outwards and splattered Liara with yellow-orange blood and gore. The two mercenaries that had held Liara, let go of her immediately, sputtering, spitting and gagging as the krogan’s hulking form toppled down.

Liara stood frozen to the spot, breathing heavily as the krogan’s blood and bits of gore cooled rapidly on her skin. The smell hit her nose and she heaved. It smelled awful. Someone shouted, but it sounded so distant as if coming from under water. Slowly, she looked down at herself seeing the yellow-orange splatter all over her armor and she felt a lump rise to her throat with a wave of nausea. 

Struck to the spot she was standing at, she was oblivious to the gunfire that had started around her.

* * *

It was supposed to be just another routine job. Escort the asari to the informant, possibly catch a ride off Omega or go talk to someone else on Omega and watch the asari researcher hopelessly haggle with the merchants over some artifact. Or alternatively, deploy on some of the nearby planets, shoot some mercs, secure the artifact or the research site. In either case, then Shepard would’ve escorted the asari to take their leave safely back to asari space, and “CA-CHING” his account would have had a nice little lump of credits on it.

Simple, clean and low-risk. How he liked it most of time in his job as a mercenary contractor. Sure, it wasn’t a cushy life, but Shepard could live pretty comfortably and freely. He was his own boss and could choose which jobs and risks to take. Such was the life of J. Shepard.

Today’s job was an unwelcome exception. The asari had a penchant for attracting trouble and she was in trouble even before stepping a foot on the station. Then the informant turned out to be fucking Feron and everything started going downhill from there. Fast.

The Blue Suns made an appearance and almost every single one member of the mercenary group knew Shepard’s face and the common procedure of inflicting pain on him. That’s what you get from politely declining an invitation to join the Blue Suns. Being punched in the face by a Blue Suns merc had not been in his plans for today. And the day was just taking even more unexpected turns as the blood that had trickled from his nose to his lips started to dry. 

The Krogan leader of this group of Blue Suns mercenaries was shot while in mid-sentence. Judging by how devastatingly effective the shot was at rendering the krogan dead, somewhere on the ledges was a sniper armed with a powerful sniper rifle. A Volkov possibly.

Nevertheless, the surprise assassination of their leader, made it possible for Shepard to wrestle himself free from his captors after the krogan was shot. Shepard tore his right arm free from the hold of the human mercenary at his right side. Swiftly, Shepard swung his arm at the mercenary and pushed him away with a biotic pull. For a moment that mercenary was taken care of.

“Sniper!” one of the Blue Suns shouted as Shepard elbowed the turian mercenary on his left. The turian staggered backwards and Shepard used the time to unholster the pistol from his hip. Shepard aimed and fired, and the turian toppled to the floor with a hole under his brow plate.

Shepard turned to finish off the mercenary he had left hanging in the biotic pull field. The mercenary was struggling to free himself from the mass effect field. Shepard aimed the pistol at the mercenary’s unprotected head. 

Before Shepard had pulled the trigger, there was another shot and the mercenary’s head exploded. Startled, Shepard allowed his biotic pull field go out and the mercenary’s body clattered down on the floor. 

_Not a sniper, but snipers_ , Shepard thought with alarm as more shots started to rain down on them from a high ledge on the wall to their right. They were like fishes in a barrel. He needed to find Liara.

Knowing that his barrier could take a few shots, Shepard tried to locate his client among the carnage. He spotted her standing, not far from him, seemingly unaware of the perilous situation they were in. A mercenary returning fire at the snipers above was shot dead right next to her, but she barely flinched. 

_Shit, she’s in shock,_ Shepard thought and bent his knees slightly. For now the snipers seemed to be targeting the Blue Suns, but it was best not wait until their luck ran out. Shepard launched himself into a biotic charge despite the short distance between him and Liara. Charging was safer and quicker in these circumstances. Halting a little distance past Liara, Shepard turned quickly to face the asari. 

Her face and front were covered in the yellow-orange blood and gore of the krogan. Her blue eyes rose to meet his, but despite that she didn’t quite register his face or presence.

Shepard cursed under his breath and grabbed the asari’s arm into a tight grip. Her death would mean a loss of a paycheck so they needed to move right now. Shepard dragged Liara into a run with him, heading under the ledge the snipers presumably were and into a cover. Feron was already covering from the fire near the wall.

“Feron, move!” Shepard bellowed. Feron scampered up to his feet and started running, motioning Shepard to follow him into one of the side corridors. The corridor was dark and narrow, but soon the sound of the firefight died out behind them. They emerged from the corridor and Feron led them across another tunnel that Shepard was positive he couldn’t recognize. Getting lost in the tunnels would be dangerous if more Blue Suns were coming after them. Or these unknown snipers. Maybe they were part of a gang that had claimed the tunnels as their turf and would gladly rid themselves of rivaling mercenary gangs and unfortunate trespassers.

“Which way?” Shepard shouted at Feron as they took a turn into another corridor. He truly hoped that the drell knew his way around these parts.

“Just away!” Feron yelled back and continued running. Shepard let out a disdained sound in the back of his throat and glanced behind him. Liara was still keeping up somehow, even when she didn’t seem fully aware of the fact that she was running.

“Maybe here!” Feron shouted optimistically at the two others and rounded a corner. Shepard followed and almost ran into the drell, before his eyes followed the same line of sight as Feron’s. In front of them were steps and on top of the steps stood a beautiful human woman with inky black hair. She had several armed guards behind her, and all of them wore white uniforms adorned with yellow and black logos. 

Cerberus.

“Or maybe not”, Shepard muttered with a dark tone between pants of breath. He wanted to kick Feron for leading them into the lap of Cerberus agents, even if the said drell seemed to want to put up a fight with the Cerberus agents, if his changed stance was any indication. 

However, the group of Cerberus agents before them were at ease and if they had wanted to kill the trio, they would have done so already. Shepard willed himself to relax, in order to analyze the situation for signs of danger. Even as thoughts and plans for escape routes ran through his mind, he welcomed the breather.

“Relax drell,” the dark-haired woman said coolly and took a step forward towards the trio. At the same time, Liara made a choking sound and Shepard let go of her arm as the asari hastily moved back, bent over and threw up next to a wall. The Cerberus woman scrunched up her nose but looked otherwise unimpressed.

By now, it was plainly apparent that neither group wanted to cause harm to the other, as all of them seemed distracted by Liara’s bout of sickness.

“Excuse us,” Shepard said and walked over to the asari, purposefully blocking the view to her by turning his back at the Cerberus agents. No one needed extra attention when throwing up their guts. Feron remained in his spot, as if standing guard over the other two. However, it didn't take long for him to start griping at the Cerberus woman. Shepard listened at their exchange half-heartedly as he watched over the asari, finding out that Cerberus had been behind the attack against the Blue Suns. It had turned out to be a timely rescue for sure, but for what purpose, Shepard wondered.

Liara braced one of her hands against the wall as she heaved and gagged. Shepard used the moment to quickly look her over for any wounds and even lowered his eyes to look at the pool of vomit for signs of abnormalities. No wounds, and nothing abnormal in her vomit so she had thrown up just because of nausea.

The asari spat a few times more, before sluggishly straightening herself. Her face looked pale under the drying krogan blood and she had a sheen of sweat under all the grime too. The look in her eyes was dazed and tired, as if she was sleepwalking.

Shepard opened one of the pouches in his utility belt at his hip and retrieved a small flat package from it. Tearing the package open he took a wet wipe out of it and started to wipe Liara’s face from the gore and blood. She swayed slightly on her feet under Shepard’s hand as if his touch weighed her down. As he carefully wiped her eyelids, she blinked slowly and Shepard got momentarily distracted by her eyes.

Shepard bit his cheek and cursed at himself mentally even as he admitted to himself that he found her attractive. She had impressive blue eyes and a cute button nose. Freckles adorned the bridge of her nose and the tops of her cheeks. But this wasn’t the time to note how pretty someone was, especially when it was his client. Besides, as Shepard had learned the hard way, if fooling around was in the plans, it would happen only after the job was done and after being paid. Not before. 

At any rate, judging by how much trouble the asari had already brought him, it was probably wisest to sever ties as soon as the job was done, and hope that they wouldn’t cross paths ever again.

As if hearing his last thoughts, Liara gasped and blinked. She looked at him with surprised eyes, as if woken up from a nightmare. The obliviousness was gone from her features and she seemed aware of her surroundings once more. 

Shepard moved his hand away from her face and lowered it, offering the wipe to the asari. 

“You can probably finish by yourself,” Shepard said gruffly and Liara picked the wet wipe slowly from his hand. Her eyes flew back to his face. 

“Thank you,” she murmured with a weak voice, but her eyes seemed oddly focused on his face. Her expression turned sheepish when she gestured towards his face. “Uh, you’ve got a little…,”

Oh, right. The nosebleed. Shepard ran the back of his hand under his nose, wiping away the nearly dried blood from his upper lip. His face was heating up for some reason and he had to turn away from her, lest she saw the color changing on his face. Had she noticed his staring? It was embarrassing enough to know he had allowed himself to become distracted during a job. 

_Get a grip_ , Shepard berated himself and willed him to keep his eyes away from the asari, as Liara took a few steps forward and settled to stand by his side.

“Well, I hope you are feeling better, Doctor T’Soni,” the Cerberus woman said breezily, regarding the asari with an intent gaze. Liara lifted her face up in surprise staring at the woman in almost stunned silence. As the woman descended the steps, her cold blue eyes fell onto Shepard. “And the Butcher of Torfan is here too.”

Shepard pretended he didn’t notice the asari’s eyes landing on him questioningly.

The Cerberus woman stood in front of the trio and smiled in a way that could be interpreted as polite, secretive and scheming all at the same time. 

“I am happy to say we are all working towards the same goal,” The woman announced to them: “Finding Williams.”

“Williams is dead,” Liara stated, remarkably evenly and loudly for someone who had just thrown up. The Cerberus woman arched her well-maintained brows at the statement.

“That’s what they say, but Williams has beaten the odds before,”The woman said slowly with a touch of pride in her voice. She stepped closer to Liara and spoke directly to the asari: “My name is Miranda Lawson and I represent someone who wants very much to meet you. Work with us and we might be able to bring Williams back.”

Liara blinked owlishly and her face scrunched up in confusion. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” she asked in a bewildered tone. Miranda flicked a lock of her hair behind her shoulder and turned back to the steps. She had a perfect body for a human female and the suit she was wearing did little to hide the fact. The perfection seemed almost unnatural and wrong somehow to Shepard and he sheepishly averted his eyes from the woman.

“Just come with me,” Miranda coaxed and gestured for the trio to follow her and the guards with her. As Liara didn’t move and neither did Feron or Shepard, Miranda reasoned with an almost kind smile: “You can clean up and you can even bring your companions,” the woman's eyes fell on Shepard and Feron. “We’re not being choosy today.”

Liara sighed reluctantly, but walked forward to follow the Cerberus agents, while still trying to wipe the blood from her neck. Shepard shrugged to himself and followed in suit, but as he was passing the drell, Feron shoved him in the shoulder.

“That tone was meant for you,” Feron said snootily, referring to Miranda’s tone when addressing them. Shepard shoved the drell back, making him lose his balance momentarily.

“She referred to both of us, you ass,” the man muttered and without a backward look, walked up the steps. 

* * *

Miranda turned out to be a good driver amid the unorganized skycar traffic on Omega.

Liara and her companions had boarded the skycar Miranda was driving and ever since the drive to the Cerberus base on the station had begun an awkward silence had hung in the air. The human woman didn’t seem bothered in the least by the silence.

Usually, Liara too wasn’t bothered by silence. However, this time the silence seemed to taunt her. Somehow she felt like she was under a magnifying glass and the only way to deter the feeling was to start a conversation. 

That and the fact that she still smelled strongly of krogan blood. Liara would have gladly focused on anything else than the smell of krogan blood on her. Even on trying to engage in small talk, as bad as she was at it. 

She turned slightly on her seat to look at the passengers on the back seat. Feron looked outside the window, feigning interest, while Shepard seemed to be in process of adjusting the vambraces on his left arm. 

“You obviously know each other. How did that happen?” Liara asked haltingly even if the words themselves didn’t let on her hesitation.

Shepard and Feron looked slowly at each other in mutual distaste.

“Anyone who’s even a little bit of a regular face on Omega knows everyone,” Shepard muttered and crossed his arms. With a sulky tone, he added: “We’ve… crossed paths.”

“Not this again,” Feron groaned and covered his face with his palm. It appeared that the feud between them was long-standing. Whatever it was.

“You stole that job out from under me!” Shepard said hotly as he turned back to the drell. “That job would’ve kept me afloat for three months!”

“It was an information tracking job, not a mercenary’s job,” Feron said in a long-suffering tone and gave the human look that suggested they drop the subject. The look clearly didn’t translate well to human.

“I could’ve done it!” Shepard insisted vehemently and took hold of Feron’s coat lapels. “You’re already well off, pissing credits in Afterlife on strippers and fancy drinks!”

Feron grimaced slightly but didn’t seem bothered by the human’s accusations. The drell furrowed his brows and glared at Shepard, while trying to pry off the human’s hands from his coat.

“Maybe you’d do better if you’d stop monkeying jobs,” the drell suggested snidely. Liara saw Shepard’s face turn several shades redder from anger and she promptly decided to turn back on her seat and watch the traffic instead. 

A sound of scuffling came from the back seats and then Shepard’s voice: “You damn frog! I’ll - oof!” Followed by more sounds of scuffling.

“Dr. T’Soni,” said Miranda softly as she gripped the steering wheel tighter, her brows knitted close together. ”If you don’t make them shut up, I will.”

Liara knew from the get go, that Miranda didn’t seem like a person who could be easily negotiated with and the issued threat sounded very genuine. The asari hopelessly cast a pleading look at Miranda, aware that it would accomplish nothing while she turned on her seat.

So much for her refining her conversation skills.

* * *

The Cerberus base looked more like a temporary place for operations than a permanent establishment, which explained the lack of reservation and the lack of tight security protocols. They had to leave their weapons with the agents stationed at the entrance, but other than that they were treated as nicely as Cerberus standards went. Which was pretty okay actually. Liara was directed somewhere to clean up and Shepard got a damp towel to wipe the blood from his face.

After cleaning up, they were ushered into a lounge with utilitarian couches and no other furniture or decoration. Liara sighed heavily as she seated herself on one of the couches. No doubt, the events were taking a toll on her and she was as tired as she looked. Feron on the other hand, had for once tensed up as they had entered the base and he warily stood in front of the asari.

Without missing a beat after the doors closed and they were left alone, Feron started a rant directed at Liara about how bad Cerberus was and how bad it was to associate with them. Shepard leaned against the wall and watched the drell be out of his element and committed the scene to memory for later blackmail purposes.

Feron went on trying to reason how odd it was that Cerberus wanted to meet with an asari and allowed even a drell on their premises. The drell called Cerberus a pro-human hate group with sinister intentions. All true of course. Cerberus had been a nuisance and an officially declared terrorist group for years before Shepard had even enlisted. 

Feron had reached a point in his rant where it sounded like he was scaring even himself. Liara seemed slightly curious but remained otherwise unfazed by the information she was receiving.

“Feron, I know what Cerberus is,” Liara said calmly. “Despite that, they are the first group on this station that has not threatened to kill me, but have expressed wanting to get Williams back.”

“Because Williams is human!” Feron argued and nearly leapt into the air when he heard Shepard lean away from the wall. 

“You are unusually jumpy,” Shepard commented casually as he walked closer to the other two. Feron turned his head to look at the man.

“You’re human, Shepard. You say something!”

The drell’s tone didn’t relieve any information as to how he expected Shepard to answer. Was Shepard supposed to confirm or disclaim the things Feron had said? Maybe Feron expected Shepard to agree and show approval over Cerberus’ activities and so confirm the claims. 

In the past five years since Shepard had been residing mostly on Omega, Cerberus had never posed a great threat to him or his livelihood. But as he had always had quite flexible morals, teaming up with Cerberus could be easily forgiven by his conscience. Besides, the alliance was proposed to Liara, so it’d be on her conscience as he was employed by her. Simple. 

“I’d say that it might be worthwhile to hear what they want to say,” Shepard said at length. They needed allies, seeing how they had gotten attacked by a relatively sizable faction of the Blue Suns the three of them were no match for. What’s more, it was worrying that at least the leader of the faction seemed to know about Liara’s mission. Which meant that most of the Blue Suns knew about it. And then the Shadow Broker was mixed in too. But why would some asari and her weird mission be vital information to anyone? What would make the remains of one human woman so coveted? Shepard tried to recall any recent news of obscure cults that might want the remains for their own purposes, but none came to mind.

At any rate, Cerberus had offered to help without presenting any conditions for the partnership. Maybe the aforementioned questions could be answered with their help. At least Cerberus had taken care of that faction of Blue Suns for them. 

“You are disagreeing with me out of spite!” Feron accused. A second later he scoffed. “Oh right, I forgot that one of your main hobbies is having sex with anything that breathes, alien or human. You’ve probably even done it with a vorcha.”

Liara raised her brows comically high at this accusation and her eyes darted between the two men. Shepard felt that the accusation was outlandish enough to not be addressed with words so he just maturely gave the drell the finger. 

Liara let out a small gasp, clearly knowing what the gesture meant. Feron sputtered. Someone cleared their throat.

All three of them turned to see that Miranda had walked into the lounge and looked at the scene before her with one raised brow and blatant scorn in her icy blue eyes. Shepard lowered his arm shamefully and tried to see if there was anything interesting on the ceiling.

“Our leader is ready to see you now,” Miranda announced coolly and Liara got up.

“No thanks, I’ll stay here,” Feron said in a condescendingly assuring tone as Liara walked to the woman.

“That’s good,” The dark-haired woman said softly over her shoulder as she walked to the door while escorting Liara. Without a backward look, she added. “Because I didn’t even ask.”

The door closed behind them and Feron was left alone with Shepard.

Shepard, willing to forget being caught doing something as juvenile as flipping someone off, broke the silence by snorting in amusement. He walked past the drell and bumped his shoulder with the drell’s, hard enough to make Feron stumble.

“You got roasted!” Shepard mocked and walked around the drell to seat himself on the same couch the asari had vacated a moment ago.

“Laugh all you want, ape,” Feron muttered darkly and rubbed his shoulder grudgingly. Shepard only chuckled at the insult and they were left in tense silence once more.

After a significantly long pause, Shepard broke the silence by saying in a serious tone: “Feron, what is really going on here?”

Feron put his hands in his coat pockets and looked at the human with a blank expression.

“What do you mean?” the drell asked tonelessly. 

“You are involved in this deeper than you want to let her know,” Shepard stated, gesturing towards the door, referring to Liara. His next sentence came out in a hard, steely tone: “That’s what I’m asking.”  
  


Feron shrugged, the intimidation having no visible effect on him.

“I don’t see how any information would concern you,” the drell replied frostily.

“It does concern me greatly,” Shepard said evenly and stood up. He took slow deliberate steps towards the drell. “You see, that asari hired me to protect her and I want to know what we will be up against so I can do my job and get paid.”

Feron wasn’t easily intimidated, Shepard had to give him that. The drell only cocked his head to the side and tutted: “Aw, getting a little sweet on Dr. T’Soni?”

That comment brought a reminder of the thoughts Shepard had had in the tunnels while wiping her face from the blood. Years of practice maintained that his features remained unchanging, but a small vindictive grunt escaped from him. 

“You are hiding something,” Shepard growled and glared at the drell.

“Aren’t I always?” Feron said with a humorless laugh. “I am an information broker.”

“You weren’t that surprised when the Blue Suns appeared,” Shepard said and studied the drell’s features. Feron had seemed surprised for being attacked but not that surprised. It had seemed like the drell had even expected to be attacked. As if he had gotten the script for the events and knew that some things would come to pass but not exactly when.

“We are on Omega, Shepard,” Feron said in a reprimanding tone. “Mercenaries are everywhere. In fact, you are a mercenary too.”

“I don’t believe you were that surprised either when Cerberus appeared.” 

Indeed, why did Feron not pull out his pistol at Miranda? He had certainly been close enough to the guards and to the woman to take pretty good shots at all three of them. With the drell’s speed he could have also dodged fast enough to save himself from injuries. But why would Feron associate himself with Cerberus? His rant made it clear that Cerberus did not have his trust and that he’d never willingly ally himself with them.

Feron was like a piece of a puzzle that didn’t fit anywhere. For now.

“You can believe what you want,” the drell said.

Shepard stepped closer to Feron.

“If this mission goes south I know whose ass I’ll be kicking to Sahrabarik,” Shepard hissed between his teeth. Feron looked up at his face for a moment before grinning slyly.

“You’ve been having these fits a lot lately, Shepard. I might think that you are afraid of something,” Feron suggested and he moved away, putting some distance between them.

Shepard grunted indignantly and curled his hands into fists. So the drell had noticed.

“You’re worried that the Alliance is tied to this. I know enough of human body language to know that you are uncomfortable,” Feron continued with an annoying self-satisfied smile dancing on his lips.

“You don’t know me,” Shepard retorted hotly and internally scolded himself again for falling for childish comebacks and for dancing to Feron’s tune.

“No, but I know what you are,” Feron stated flippantly while adjusting his coat lapels. “And you are a coward, Shepard. Nothing more.”

The words burned like fire in Shepard. His stomach churned uncomfortably as if he had been punched in the gut. He swallowed thickly and willed himself to stand tall and not to deflate under the sting of the accusation.

Feron seemed lost in thought, before he blinked and grinned again.

“No, wait I forgot. You’re an ape too.”

* * *

Miranda had escorted Liara into a dark room with no furniture. The door had been closed before the asari had the chance to ask about the weird room, but a moment later she could see light and a holo projection of an office with large windows opening to the view of a fiery star.

In the middle of the office was a chair and someone was sitting on it. That someone had been the Elusive Man. No, – the Illusive Man. 

Liara surmised that she should have been honored to have an audience with the leaders of one of the largest terrorist organizations in the galaxy, but she had doubts to lay to rest.

The Illusive Man spoke to her patronizingly, but luckily enough he didn’t seem the type to dwell on every supposedly great quality humanity had and the aliens didn’t. He got to the meat of the matter quickly and revealed to Liara that not only the Shadow Broker was involved but that the Collectors were involved as the Broker’s clients. 

What Liara knew of the Collectors wasn’t much, but she knew enough that dead bodies were not generally what the Collectors were after. The Illusive Man agreed and replied that he wanted her to find out why exactly the Collectors were after Williams’ body.

Finally Liara could agree that out of the two prospects, either the Collectors or Cerberus, the latter was the lesser evil. At least they were human, maybe they could get Ashley’s remains to her family, although thinking of that as an actual possibility was glaringly naive.

“ _Nothing beats having someone with a personal motive driving them,”_ The Illusive Man said smoothly despite the raspy quality of his voice. “ _You certainly have one. When I heard you were here, I knew I wanted you on my team_.” 

_Yes, my personal motive is procrastination,_ Liara thought wryly and turned away. She had taken on this mission for the lack of interest in the other things in her life and to escape the haunting solitude of her life. She had wanted to know where Ashley was and she knew now. Not exactly of course, but she knew the woman was dead. She still wanted to verify the fact with her own eyes. But where would that leave the body? It would need to go somewhere. 

“ _The drell, Feron, does seem to have a lead on Williams, as he should, being an agent of the Shadow Broker. I suspect he also may prove useful… for an alien. The Butcher of Torfan is not an awful choice for a bodyguard either, having in mind that he is an N7_ ,” The Illusive Man said pensively and Liara blinked in confusion. She had been right about her two companions! They were, both of them were…!

_Goddess,_ Liara thought and her blood turned cold in her veins. She really had mixed up with bad company this time. The Illusive Man didn’t seem to notice the shock the asari was experiencing.

_“Will you work with them? Can we count on you?”_ The Illusive Man asked as he lit a cigar. The orange burn of the cigar contrasted eerily with the white glow of the man’s eyes.

The questions this man asked were ludicrous. The whole situation was bizarre. She had banded up with an ex-soldier who was notorious for being ruthless and apparently she had walked into a trap by contacting Feron. And now she was being recruited to work for a pro-human terrorist organization. 

If The Illusive Man had any sense, he wouldn’t ask if they could count on her. She couldn’t even count on herself, judging by the situation she had got herself into. Liara tried to think of ways to leave, but nothing sensible came to mind. Except for going with the situation at hand and completing her mission.

Also the choice of leaving Williams’ body to be handed off to the Collectors seemed more wrong by the second. What Cerberus had planned for the remains had to be better than what the Collectors had in mind. 

Besides she had gone far enough into her mission to turn her back to it now. She had spent a fortune to acquiring information, she had deceived her university and she had been in mortal danger twice now. To turn her back to that would mean that her previous actions had meant nothing and it would also mean turning her back to Williams. She considered herself to be well enough acquainted with Ahsley to not leave the woman to an unknown fate. 

Cerberus was no friend to Ashley, but Liara could show, even if just for herself that she was a friend of Ashley’s. This was the one day and the one chance to make an act toward that friendship. The first and last act toward that friendship.

This mission was about redemption, not procrastination.

“No,” Liara said resolutely, even if the weight of the words nearly made her voice waver. “But Williams can.”  
  


“ _Good_ ,” The Illusive Man sounded satisfied. “ _That was what I was counting on_.”

* * *

Their stay in the Cerberus base turned out to be a brief one. Once more, Miranda drove them through Omega. Same as before, a silence has settled in the skycar but this time Liara was so deep in thought that she barely noticed the pregnant silence. 

Her thoughts kept swirling around the Collectors and around the fact that there was an agent of the Shadow Broker sitting on the back seat, not to mention a N7 soldier who was also _the_ Butcher of Torfan. 

She remembered how Father Kyle, formerly Major Kyle, had referred to the soldier with a trembling voice, calling his former subordinate ruthless and unforgiving. Could it be purely coincidence that she had ended up with Shepard of all people? 

Then there was Feron. How much had Feron orchestrated the events? Had he led them to be ambushed by the Blue Suns on purpose? How much did he actually know and what role was he actually playing in all this?

“Liara, are you listening?”

The asari in question snapped her head up, looking around herself. They had stopped and it looked like they were close to the Afterlife club. Shepard and Feron were standing a little ways off in what seemed like a sulky silence. Miranda’s eyes bore on her and Liara lifted her eyes to meet the woman’s.

“I was saying if you want to find Williams the ones who attacked you before are the key,” Miranda said evenly.“Blue Suns mercenaries.”

“Didn’t we see your people kill them all?” Liara asked as she moved from her seat. Miranda huffed in a way that sounded like she had halted herself from snorting derisively.

“Oh, the krogan wasn’t the brains of the operation,” the woman said. “Even when his brains were still in his head.”

Liara cringed at the mention of the krogan whose molecular remains still most likely clung to her armor.

“From what you told us, their big idiot brigade was just trying to keep you from finding Williams, which means that your drell may actually be right.” After agreeing with the Illusive Man and ending the holocall, Miranda had congratulated the asari joylessly for making a wise decision, before proceeding to fish out all the information Liara had. What had happened thus far, what she knew about Feron. 

“The body’s here on Omega, and the Blue Suns have it,” Miranda said firmly. Liara made her way fully out of the car and watched the bustling lines of people queueing to the club with detached interest.

“If the body had left Omega, I would know,” Miranda continued while leaning against the skycar’s roof. “They haven’t made the final handoff to Shadow Broker’s agent. That means we still have a chance.”

A chance. Even after her mission so far had been a series of misfortunes, there was still a chance. Liara looked back at the woman.

Miranda switched her omnitool open and tapped quickly on the keyes. A small chime from Liara’s omnitool alerted her attention. She raised her arm and opened her own omnitool. She had received what looked like coordinates and a decent sum of credits from Miranda.

“Find the body. Bring it _there,_ ” Miranda said firmly as she crossed her arms and pointedly looked at the screen of Liara’s omnitool. “If you accrue more expenses, we’ll pay for them.”

Liara nodded listlessly, feeling frustration bubbling up in her and switched her omnitool off.

“I’m not familiar with Omega. I’m not even sure where to start looking,” Liara said half-heartedly, while Miranda settled herself back on the driver’s seat. Being left alone with Shepard and Feron, now that she knew who they were actually, made her feel anxiety, but also deep disappointment at herself. She should have known better.

“Like the boss said, Liara; ask your companions. Put your heads together. I’m sure you will figure something out!” Miranda called out before the door of the skycar slid shut. Liara watched the woman depart, before turning to face her two companions.

_Oh, I am going to figure something out, all right,_ the asari thought darkly as she advanced on to her “companions”. After all, as Wrex had once said, “ _a good attack is the best defense_ ” and Liara’s present company would understand that if nothing else.

They owed her some explanations and she would make them speak.


End file.
